:|DD's Creative Hub|: HUGE Update p.76 - Page 33

Hey guys, hope you all are well. :) Now this is completely unexpected OS, I have done tonight. And this one is for, just for Ori. :) I thought of including it in Magic of M, but I think this is better as a standalone. It's not exactly what you asked for and hoped for but I still hope you enjoy it. :')

And guys, with this my requests accepting period unfortunately comes to end. I hope you all still continue to read my work, I shall try not to disappoint my readers. Also Magic of M's next chapter will be up soon. :)

Enjoy reading all. :)

..Christmas Memories..

The house is looking like a bride ducked with amazing Christmas lights inside and outside the house. Inside the house in the living room there is a huge Christmas tree which is half decorated so far and in front of the tree stands a man in his early 40, medium built body with mustache who is himself tangled with Christmas ribbons. Next to him is a small girl no older than 9 years, looking fair, with long hair and beautiful smile, she is kneeling by the tree with baubles in her hands as she tries to hang them at the bottom of tree in the background Christmas playlist is playing.

"Arghhh.. these stupids ribbons." His irritated voice causes small girl to look at the grown up man in front of her and when she does she starts giggling.

"A little help?" He gives her the look, suppressing her laughter she gets up and helps the man untangle from ribbons while she still giggles in between; finally he relaxes when ribbons are separated from his body.

"What baba? You were supposed to wrap ribbons around the tree not get yourself wrapped in it." The girl manages to get the words out between her giggles.

"Oh really, teasing your father, young lady?" She nods her head with all sincerity. Suddenly she screams as she is being lifted in her father's arms. He lifts her from the floor straight into her arms and tickles her.

"This is what you get for trying to be smart with your baba."

"Baba stop, pleaseee." Their laughter echos in the whole house despite the music playing, he finally stops when he falls on sofa with his little girl in his arms. It takes little time before their laughter dials down but still the smile and happiness is filled in their home and is visible on their faces.

"I love Christmas."

"Me too."

They smile but soon her smile fades and she looks at her father.

"Baba, we haven't hung the Mistletoe yet." Hearing the word Mistletoe sends a strange sensation in his body and her face flashes in front of his face.

"Baba?" He quickly recovers from it and looks at her.

"Mistletoe." One word and they are on their feet again.

"Here, it's done." Standing in front of their entrance door they are glazing over the mistletoe hanging above them at their home entrance.

"It looks so lovely." She whispers in admiration which makes him grin.

An hour later, he is sitting in his armchair and he is staring out the window lost in his own thoughts; the sky is clear tonight and stars are quite visible tonight.
His thoughts are rudely interrupted when she nearly jumps on his lap causing him to almost scream at sudden intrusion of space; he looks at her wide eyed and she starts laughing.

"What baba, you got scared? My Baba - the brave CID officer Fredricks got scared by a 9 year old? Really?" The amusement in her voice seems genuine.

"No... no.. I"

"Baba got scared." She sings.

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Did not."

"Did so!" Determination to have the last word is something she has inherited from her mother along with her face features and her beautiful eyes and most importantly the smile. Every time his little angel smiles it reminds Fredricks of her. She looks at her father when he does not reply instead is gazing at her admiringly and she doesn't need to be told that he is remember her.

"Thinking of Mama, are you?" Her gentle voice pulls him out of his memories. He creases her face while trying to answer her question.

"Yes, dear." He answers with complete honesty and in earns her kiss on his cheeks.

"Missing her, right?" He nods.

"Me too." She replies softly and he settles her in his lap and hugs her tightly.

"Baba, it's tale time." She speaks against his chest.

"My darling, Nisha wants to hear which story tonight?" He looks at her.

"I know we do this every Christmas day and it's Christmas eve tonight but I want one of your and mama's Christmas tales." Somehow he knew this was coming, somehow his heart was telling that Nisha will ask for this tonight instead of waiting so he had already selected the tale for tonight. It's been 7 years since Manisha is no longer with them, no longer in this world. She died in an accident 7 years ago and at that time Nisha was almost 2 years old and she was with Manisha that time. Nisha survived but Manisha couldn't; it was the most darkest moment in Fredricks life when his love, his soul mate had left his side despite the fact they had promised to grow old together but fate had other plans. Manisha is gone but left Nisha with Fredricks who brought light in his dark life. Nisha is just like her mother, absolutely like her - her habits, looks, intelligence and her ability to love unconditionally it's all Manisha.

"Baba?"

"Huh?" He mentally slaps himself for slipping away again.

"Story!" Nisha is getting impatient now.

"Alright..." Before he could finish, Nisha starts cheering and he grins.

"So which tale tonight about you and mama?"

"It is Christmas one..."

"Does this one also includes another mistletoe?" He laughs when she impatiently asks him.

"Now, now, if you will keep interrupting me, how will I ever tell you the story?" She thinks for a moment before settles down properly in his lap and mimics the act of zipping her mouth indicating him to carry on. He laughs and places a kiss on her forehead before continuing.

"Yes, it does." He replies. He sets back on chair and starts creasing Nisha's hair gently. 'All I want is you for Christmas' is playing on their 'Christmas' playlist. He starts narrating and slowly finds himself going back in time, reliving that moment.

"Oh God." Fredricks groans loudly and earns stern looks from both Daya and Abhijeet.

"What happened, Freddy?" Abhijeet asks.

"She is going to kill me." Instead of answering Abhijeet, Freddy starts blabbering.

"What? Who?" Both get confused. It was bad enough that ACP Pradyuman had made them stay back on Christmas eve and making them work on reports and now Freddy's sudden blabbering.

"Manisha." Daya and Abhijeet relax themselves and tries not to grin, both walk up to him.

"Why? What did you do this time, Freddy?" Daya asks him in rather accusing tone.

"How can you? I didn't... " He tries to deny but stops in middle knowing he is responsible tonight. He looks at them with helpless look and Abhijeet encourages him to speak. Fredricks has been working with them for a long time and has seen turn this team into a family, found himself going from Fredricks to Freddy by them. They all love him and respect him very much though they sometime jokes around with him at his expense but never crossed a line with him and over the time his time continuously proved how much they love him, care for him and Manisha.

"What happened?" He looks at them, guiltily.

"Manisha had asked me to get Christmas tree and I told her it will be there by tonight so she can start decorating but I forgot to give the seller call today." Both of them look at Fredricks with wide eyes, absolutely shocked. Whatever courage Fredricks had evaporates seeing their expressions.

"What?"

"This is completely unacceptable, Fredricks."

"What to do now?" He can barely speak due to tension. Both of them look at him and decide to help him.

So they quickly wrap up the files and go on the 'Christmas tree' hunt together. After spending 2-3 hours, they finally find a Christmas tree, which wasn't good but it was this or nothing so Fredricks went with this. Throwing the tree in their car, Daya put his foot on accelerator and speeds to Fredrick's house. As they reach his house, Fedricks start to panic but Daya and Abhijeet make him stay grounded. They offer to go with him but Fredricks gently denies assuring them he will handle from here while thanking them for their help. After they leave, Fredricks stands in front of his door and puts tree next to the door, against the wall and waits nervously for Manisha. When Manisha opens the door, Fredricks freezes not due to fear but just looking at her; she looks absolutely stunning. He is not looking at her for first time yet it seems like he is seeing her for the first time, time also freezes for him.

"Fredricks." She calls him gently and he comes out of his day dream and clears his throat.

"I was waiting for you for so long..." Before she can finish her sentence, he cuts her off and starts blabbering.

"I am so sorry, Manisha. I forgot about the Christmas tree but ACP sir, the work, files.. I got so busy forgot about it until now and when I remembered I tried to..."

"Freddy, stop." She whispers gently as she cups his face in her palms, trying to relax him. Her sudden touch makes him lightly jump, he looks at her in confusion but soon relaxes himself and takes a deep breath.

"I am sorry, I just wanted to make this right but... "

"Shushh..." She hushes him with placing a gentle kiss on his cheeks and pulls him inside the door. They still stand near each other, inside the house and gazing at each other. When his eyes settle on her he notices something in them which wasn't there before.

"What happened, Manisha?" Tear rolls down her cheek and her lips curve into a smile in response as she creases his face. Her action and reaction only causes more confusion and worry for him.

"What's wrong?" He asks her gently.

"Nothing's wrong, in fact all is right today." She speaks as her eyes well up even more. He is still confused; he places his hands on her cheeks and tries to wipe her tears but she holds his hand to stop him from doing so. His eyes look at her with so many questions in them, she smiles and finally speaks.

"I am pregnant." She whispers.

"What?" He freezes there looking absolutely stunned. He blinks few times, he tries to speak but his voice doesn't come out but his vision gets blurry as he feels moist in his eyes.

"What?" He repeats.

"You are going to be father. We are going to have a baby." She is grinning, beaming and nods her head continuously until this news doesn't sink completely in his mind and he finally understands what is happening but still he is not sure, if it is true or is it some kind of joke?

"But, we weren't... this... it's been years.. how.. " She hugs him tightly nodding her head.

"God is merciful, indeed." She whispers to him against his neck, he nods, finally believing it. He grins finally feeling all the happiness. He breaks the from the hug and looks at her.

"We are going to be parents." He finally speaks through his tears.

"We are." She nods through her tears. Feeling all excited and happy, he closes the gap between them by pressing his lips at hers.

"Thank you." He says between the kiss which leads to multiple kisses.

The memory is still so fresh in his mind as if it was just yesterday but it in fact it was decade ago.

"And that's how your mother gave me the greatest joy of all - the news of you." He looks at his beautiful Nisha in his lap, smiling through his tears. Nisha blushes at the thought and smiles through her tears.

"And she gave me this news under the Mistletoe."

"That's why you love Mistletoe so much?" She asks excitedly, finally catching the reason of her father's strange love for Mistletoe. He simply nods at her.

"I love you, Baba."

"I love you too, Nisha."

He pulls her into another tight hug and she closes her eyes, finally trying to go to sleep. He sits there still watches her go to sleep then drifting back into her memories with Christmas songs still playing at distant.

"Merry Christmas, Manisha." He whispers before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep.

I hope you all enjoyed it. :)